Kingsdown -
Established as a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad,
the land was obtained from a settler named James A. Fishback in April,
1887. Fishback then sold more land to the South Arkansas Valley Town
Company for the formation of a town. The town was named for the "downs"
in England, which are open grasslands. According to the the tale, when an
English homesteader was heard to say that the prairies reminded him of the
King's Down, the name was utilized for the new settlement. However, there
is another version of how the town came to get its name, and that, was
when railroaders were playing poker, and someone called "Kings Down".

The railroad
soon built a depot, roundhouse and section houses over the next year and
in January, 1888, the settlement received a post office. However, Kingsdown did not fair well during its first few years, and the post
office was closed in December, 1891. It reopened from February, 1892 to
November, 1893, when it closed again. In the meantime, the railroad left
and by 1898, the land was sold for taxes.

Early in the 20th century however, Kingsdown revived
and it once again got a post office in April, 1904. As new
businesses began to be built, the railroad also came back in
1910, at which time the population was about 150 people. A
new depot was built the next year and for decades, Kingsdown
became a small local trading and transportation point for
the area. However, over the years, it declined again and the
train depot was once again closed in 1968. On January 3,
1998, it also lost its post office. Today, all that remains
are a few houses and a grain elevator. Also near here, is
the Clark State Fishing Lake nestled in Bluff Creek Canyon.
The lake provides not only fishing, but also nature trails,
hunting, camping and boat ramps. Kingsdown is located about
six miles southwest of Bucklin on Highway 54.

Spearville- Yet another town on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railroad, land was deeded by the railroad to the Arkansas
Valley Town Company in March, 1873, and was surveyed and
platted. It was first called Speareville, for Alden H.
Speare, railroad director and president of the town company.
The town name was consistently misspelled "Spearville," and
finally the "e" was eliminated altogether. In the early
days, the town was also called Dry Ridge and had a big water
tank beside the railroad. Its first settler was railroad
section foreman, Jonas Stafford and his family, who settled
in January, 1875. Mrs. Stafford and their daughters soon
opened an eating house which soon gained a reputation for
its excellent food. Their home restaurant was the only sign
of life between Offerle and Dodge City for some time, but it
was also a "must stop" for the railroad men who made it a
point to stop at the Staffords for their meals. Two more
settlers finally came to the town in June, 1877 -- George
Hall and M. Wear. And the following year, a group from
Cincinnati, Ohio also settled there. That same month, the
area population was sufficient enough for a post office
which was opened on June 11th. The next year, the Spearville
Enterprise newspaper was established in May, 1878. It later
was renamed the Spearville News. The Leidigh & Co.
merchandise store was established the same year.

By the
early 1880's, the town had developed into into a lively business community with
two hotels, several supply and grocery stores, a Methodist Episcopal Church, and
a bank. The area was surrounded by sheep farms with some 60,000 head roaming the
prairie. Situated near the German community of Windthorst, after a railroad
venture to that settlement failed, Spearville profited from the Germans who
shopped and worked in Spearville.

In the early 1880s, a New York millionaire named Asa Soule financed the Soule
Canal which was to be an irrigation ditch that would provide water from the
Arkansas River
to Ford, Gray and Edwards Counties.

Building for the canal began
in 1884, but by 1887, as the construction came near Spearville the project
was beginning to fail due to other projects upstream and drought. By 1890, the irrigation Canal was no longer a viable way to use the
Arkansas River water.

By the turn of the century, Spearville had
become the center of the farming and ranch area and in 1910, it had two
banks, the Spearville News, flour mills, grain elevators, hotels, churches
and schools, express and telegraph offices, and an international money
order post office with two rural routes. The population was 576. Over the
next century, Spearville continued to be an agricultural community and in
2006, benefitted from one of the largest wind farms in Kansas being
established. Spearville is located about 16 miles east of Dodge City on
Highway 56.

Wright
- Even before the town was officially founded, Wright started as a
stagecoach stop. A post office was established in March, 1886 and named
for Robert M. Wright who owned a large stockyard in the area. That
same year, a hotel was built. The settlement itself was chartered in 1887
by William Hunt, J. D. Hendricks, Ira M. Cobb, John Murphy, and A.
McLeod.

Situated along the Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Fe Railroadseven miles northeast of
Dodge City, it
did not become the cattle market its founders were hoping for, but grew
gradually eventually having a newspaper, a grain and shipping company, a general
store and several other businesses. In September, 1893, its post office shut
down, but reopened in October, 1895. In 1910, it had a population of about 60
people and a general store. Over the next century, Wright remained a small
agricultural community and was never incorporated.